Taliban commanders said among dead in Afghan clash

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, May 15 (Reuters) Three Taliban commanders were among 11 insurgents killed in a battle near the southern Afghan town of Kandahar in which five policemen were also killed, Afghan authorities said today.

The Taliban, fighting to oust foreign forces and Afghanistan's Western-backed government, have intensified their insurgency this year. Hundreds of people have been killed in bomb attacks, ambushes and clashes.

The fighting in Panjwai district, 30 km west of Kandahar town, erupted yesterday after police got word that some Taliban were hiding there and went to search for them, police said. The battle lasted several hours.

''Unfortunately, we lost five of our men but we destroyed a dangerous group of Taliban. It's a big victory for our police,'' said Mohammad Daoud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor. Seven policemen were wounded.

Kandahar is the main town in the Afghan south and was a bastion of Taliban support during their rule.

US and other foreign forces, including Canadian and British contingents, operate out of a sprawling base at the town's airport.

The base occasionally comes under rocket attack but no casualties have been caused in several blasts in recent months.

Ahmadi said among the Taliban killed was a provincial-level commander, Mullah Abdul Baqi, and a district-level commander, Mullah Abdul Manan.

Manan was responsible for a spate of attacks, including suicide bomb blasts, rocket attacks and the burning of several schools in the south of the province, Ahmadi said.

The Ministry of Interior said a third commander, Fida Mohammad, was among the dead. The insurgents had been preparing an attack when police confronted them, it said.

The bodies of the three commanders, who the ministry described as well known, had been recovered.

Foreign forces were not involved in the clash. Taliban spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.

The Taliban were ousted in late 2001 after refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden, architect of the September 11 attacks on the United States.

But nearly five years later, violence in parts of Afghanistan is the worst it has been since the end of Taliban rule.

REUTERS SHB BD1851